Machu Picchu draws a million and a half tourists each year. A new international airport in Peru will expand that number and also create new jobs. But it could also disrupt what has long been a sacred space.

Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas has survived five centuries of conquest, earthquakes, landslides and mass tourism. Now, archaeologists and historians are asking if it can withstand the building of an international airport.

Located at its heart, the goal is to bring tourists closer to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu which is Peru’s top tourist attraction.

Correspondent Dan Collyns traveled to the Andean town of Chinchero where airport construction has already begun.

The new airport will be 3,800 meters above sea level making it one of Latin America’s highest. The highest altitude airport in the world is in China’s Sichuan Province.